Scandal: A series examining corruption in leadership and its downstream consequences.
Mike Caruso, a former Republican state lawmaker appointed to the Palm Beach County post last year, was suspended by Gov. Ron DeSantis after his arrest Tuesday.
Mike Caruso, the Palm Beach County clerk of the Circuit Court and comptroller, was arrested Tuesday by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and suspended from office the same day, according to the governor’s office.
Caruso, a former Republican state lawmaker appointed to the county post by Gov. Ron DeSantis last year, was arrested on charges related to child sexual abuse, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said in a statement on X, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
“Early this morning, with substantial assistance from FDLE and local law enforcement, Palm Beach County Clerk of Court Michael Caruso was arrested on charges related to child sexual abuse,” Uthmeier said, according to the newspaper. “The investigation is ongoing, and we will provide more information to the public at the appropriate time.”
The Executive Office of the Governor separately confirmed that FDLE had arrested Caruso and announced Tuesday that DeSantis had suspended him as Palm Beach County clerk of the Circuit Court and comptroller.
“Laws are like spiders’ webs; the big flies get through, while the little ones are caught.”
— Honoré de Balzac, The Firm of Nucingen (1838)
Scandal is The Intellectualist’s series on political misconduct, institutional failure, elite impunity and the systems that allow powerful people to escape accountability.
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